Special thanks go out to Harry @ GTA
Tanks who transcribed the PS2 UK article and sent it to me. You
may notice that all of these previews are for the PS2, so everything below
is pretty much based on the PS2 version. The PC and XBox versions
may differ slightly, but we won't know any details until previews for
those platforms start showing up.

Grand Theft
Auto 3 is the latest title in the Grand Theft Auto series, developed by
DMA Design and published
by Rockstar Games,
a division of Take-Two
Interactive Software. So far GTA3 has only been released for
the PS2, the PC version will be out on May 20th, 2002 and the GameBoy
Advance version is currently due out in October 2002. Game Informer
reported in March 2001 that GTA3 will not be released on Dreamcast due
to the hardware requirements. An XBox version was announced a long
while back, but a few months after the annoucement the listing for it
was removed from Take2's site. Until we hear something official
I'd assume it's been put on the backburner or has been cancelled. No
other releases have been announced, but Gamecube, MAC, and Linux ports
are not completely out of the question. Traditionally Rockstar hasn't
supported these platforms so it seems rather unlikely.

Plot & Setting
GTA3's plot is roughly similar to GTA's, in fact the whole game is a little
more like GTA than GTA2. While GTA3 does share similarities with
the other titles in the series, it is not just GTA in 3D. GTA3 is
more story driven than the past two GTAs. You still have the same
freedom of movement, but now you are actually doing this stuff for an
overall reason, driving the plot forward with each new job. Doing
missions to advance the plot doesn't mean you are required to do all the
missions in a specific order. "As with GTA and GTA2 before
it, players can take on any mission at almost any time, an element to
the game that provides freedom and provokes exploration." The
back story was roughly laid out in the May 2001 issue of PSE2.

"It
seems you were left to take the fall while your skanky girlfriend, Catalina,
and your so-called partner-in-crime, Miguel, have run off with the loot.
Thankfully, the Man just can't keep you down. As it turns
out, on the way to the jail house, your paddy wagon is ambushed by the
Columbian Cartel. Seem they are interested in an old Japanese
man sharing your ride up the river. Along with another escapee
(who happens to be an explosives expert) by the name of 8-Ball, you
carjack the nearest vehicle and make your way to freedom - well, actually
a hideout in Liberty City's seedy Red Light District run by a Mafioso
named Luigi. Here is where your road to vengeance begins."

During the
game you will interact with well over 60 different characters, some of
which will be crime bosses and characters returning from GTA, GTA: London,
and GTA2. Gang's will also be returning to GTA3, but GTA2's respect-o-meter
will not. Over the course of the game you will run across seven
different gangs, the Maifa, the Diablos, the Triads, the Yakuza, the Yardies
(a Jamaican gang), the Colombian Cartel, and the SouthSide Hoods. Unlike
GTA and GTA2, you aren't in this game alone. Your criminal ally
is Eight-Ball, a demolitions expert. Eight-Ball will accompany you on
some of your missions and will also equip your vehicle with bombs.

GTA3 is set
entirely in Liberty City, which is sectioned off into three parts, Portland
(mostly industrial), Staunton Island (mostly commercial), and Shoreside
Vale (suburban). Each of these sections is faught over by different
gangs. You can travel from one section to another via trains, tunnels,
bridges, and even boats. Each section of the city has one safe-house
where you can hide out, save your game, store a vehicle, and collect bonuses.
As you progress through the game you will unlock different parts
of the city. Complete enough missions in the industrial area and
the radio will announce that the long closed Callahan Bridge has just
been opened, giving you the opportunity to check out some new jobs downtown
in the commercial area. Each of the subsections of Liberty City
is broken down into smaller areas with posh districts, run down streets,
ethnic neighborhoods, docks, etc. Some sections have names unique
to them, like Chinatown and the Red Light District. As you pass
through these areas a message will pop up indicating which area you have
entered. Each of the city sections features different quests,
civilian AI, architecture, and landscape. These sections also have
a different variety of cars and pedestrians. You won't see many
sports cars in the industrial section, nor will see any business men walking
around.

The entire
map is 4x4 square kilometers (5.76 square miles) and all of that area
isn't just a flat surface. GTA3 is filled with hills, curves, bumps,
and twists that can all be navigated on foot or on wheels, leaving you
free to perform stunts all over the map (can you say "Insane Stunt
Bonus"?). GTA3's interface features a radar to help you
navigate this huge environment - (click
here to view a screenshot of GTA3's interface).

GTA3 generally
plays like the other games in the series, so anyone who has played GTA
before should be able to pick GTA3 up and play it immediately. Hit
one key/button to jack a car and the same key/button to get back out,
that sort of thing. There are well over 50 mandatory missions and
over 50 odd job type side missions. 60% of these missions will be
car based and 40% will be on foot. Cutscenes appear throughout the
game, during and between missions. The cutscenes are generally used
to flesh out the plot and feature top-notch voice acting, lip-synched
to the character's mouths.

A.I., Notoriety & The Law
GTA3's artificial intelligence (AI) is used to give life to the inhabitants
of Liberty City. The pedestrians (peds) have a distinctive AI which
will allow them to continue about their business even when they aren't
on screen. The peds are programmed to interact with one another
and with you. That doesn't mean they will all react the same however.
Each ped, whether they be good or bad, will be programmed with quirks
and odd behavior so they won't always react how you'd expect. You
might be able to throw one guy out his car without a fight, but another
might not give up so easily. Some might play dead, others get mad
and yell at you, while the vigilante types will take the law into their
own hands.

The main
peds you interact with are your various criminal contacts. As you
gain new contacts their locations will appear on your radar for future
reference. The other random peds you encounter will change depending
on what section of town you are in and the time of day. In the commercial
section you will see business people going to work in the morning and
then going home just before it gets dark. Other sections will have
peds that are specific to them (hookers in the seedier areas, shoppers
and bussness people in the Commercial area, etc).

Now on to
the subject of notoriety. Whenever you commit a hostile act you
run the risk of raising your notoriety. This is indicated by badge-like
stars that appear, the more stars you have the more difficult the game
will be, and the more severe the repercussions. Get six of these
stars going at one time and you better start ducking, because not only
will you have to contend with your garden variety street cop, but you'll
also have to deal with helicopters, SWAT teams, FBI agents, and the army. Each
branch of the law has different units at their disposal. The police
have regular officers, SWAT teams, and helicopters. The FBI has
suited agents that roll up in black sedans, and the army has troop transports
that will roll up packed with heavily armed soldiers. If you can't
take the heat you can always track down a spray shop or a police bribe.
The sprayshop will immediatly clear your wanted level back to zero
while each police bribe you pick up will lower your wanted level by one.

Graphics,
Features & Interface
If you hadn't figured it out already, GTA3 uses a true 3D engine that
is not shackled to a top-down view like the other titles in the GTA series.
Multiple views and camera angles are available, including first
person (with certain guns), third person, top down, etc. The majority
of the game will be played from the default, third person view. The
DMA Design team played numerous third person games and found the best
possible solution to the camera problems that plague some of these games.

GTA3 also
features "continuously streaming environments" allowing the
DMA team to use an "unlimited number of building models". This
reduces the amount of repetition in the environment. The PS2 version
runs at 30 FPS and features graphical enhancements like, rain, fog, real
time lighting, reflection mapping, zero clipping, motion blur, and lots
of detail. Another feature of the game engine is full day/night
time cycles, with 30 minutes of real-time equaling 24 hours of game-time.
As the sun moves across the sky the objects in the city will cast
a different shadow depending on the position of the sun. Along with
the day/night cycles, GTA3 also features a weather generator which can
lead to rain, haze, fog, clouds, lightening, thunder or any combination
of these elements. These weather conditions affect the physics
in the game making it harder to sprint or drive fast on wet pavement,
and it will lower your visibility under hazy or foggy conditions. Cloudy
conditions just lead to a darker day while lightening and thunder just
add to the environment.

The interface
in GTA3 features the standard compliment of read outs including area name,
pager, health meter, armor meter, weapon/ammo/clip, cash, radar, wanted
level, and clock. Most of these are self-explanatory - (click
here to view a screenshot of GTA3's interface).

Area
Name: As you enter new areas around town the area name will appear
briefly to indicate where you are (China town, red light district, docks,
etc.)

Pager:
The pager pops up from time to time to give you new and current mission
information.

Health
Meter: The health meter shows how much life you have left.

Armor
Meter: The armor meter shows how much armor you have left

Weapon/Ammo/Clip:
The weapon/ammo/clip readout shows your current weapon, how much ammo
you have left overall, and how much ammo you have left in the current
clip. The clip amount will only show up if the weapon you are
using has a clip.

Cash:
Cash indicates your current liquid assets

Radar:
The radar shows full street layout with an N on the radar
border indicating which direction is North. Various mission goals
are indicted by colored icons. The mission icons will sit on the
border of the radar indicating which direction you need to go. When
you get close enough to the mission goal it will move onto the radar
screen showing more specific instructions.

Wanted
Level: The wanted level shows how much heat you have coming down
on you (ranges from 0-6 badge icons).

Clock:
The clock shows the current game time. The clock replaces the
counters that were used in previous games in the GTA series. You
will use the clock for certain missions where you have to be at a specific
place at a specific time. One scenario might require the player
to rob an armored van that makes it's rounds early in the morning. If
you miss the job, you'll have to try again the next day. Judging
from previous previews, it sounds as if you can miss some missions and
retry them the next day, while others are one-shot deals that you will
fail if you don't show up at the correct time.

Vehicles, Control & Movement
GTA3 will feature approximately 50 vehicles, with each vehicle having
4 to 5 variations. In the end it's possible that GTA3 may have up
to 250 different vehicle variations total. All the cars are based
on real-life vehicles. Some situations will call for a truck, some
for a sports car, others for a boat, and some will require you to use
a small vehicle to get to a specific point on the map. I've composed
a list of possible vehicles based on the screen
shots and the previews.

The design
team at DMA is trying to balance the physics so all the vehicles are modeled
accurately, but still fun to drive. The physics of any given vehicle
can be affected by damage, terrain, vehicle type, and weather conditions.
Just as in previous versions of GTA, you will be able to perform
stunts like hand-brake turns, jumps, and more. One feature
returning from GTA2 is the ability to drive a cab and collect fares. In
some special cases you can also use the cab to get missions from your
riders. Other vehicle side missions include, answering emergency
calls in the ambulance, putting out fires with the fire truck, capturing
criminals with the police car, and possibly selling ice cream from the
ice cream truck. All of these vehicle side missions will net you
some extra cash.

Unlike other
games, in GTA3, you can run over anyone you like. Only the lucky
peds will be able to jump out of the way in this game. If you do
happen to miss one and you're too damn lazy to get out of your car, fear
not, drivebys are back. Simply make a U-turn, pull out your
Uzi, and gun down the acrobatic ped.

Each vehicle
features 18 damage points that can be dented or fall off. It's even
possible to bash every panel off, leaving only the frame. If it
takes too much damage it might blow up. You also run the risk of
flipping your car in some situations. If the car doesn't blow
up after flipping, you can crawl out the window and continue on your way.
Damaging your vehicle will do more than just change its appearance,
it will also adjust the physics and performance. The more you damage
a vehicle, the more difficult it will be to drive. For instance,
if the front end is rammed hard enough, the engine will begin to smoke
and your car may not perform as well.

If for any
reason you get sick of driving you can always get out of your car and
go for a walk. When you leave your car you can walk, run, or sprint,
however you can only sprint for a short time before you have to stop and
rest. If you run and sprint a lot, the character will get in better
shape and later in the game he won't have to rest as often because his
endurance has gone up. All
of these actions have separate animations that your character will perform,
even down to bending over to take a deep breath after a long sprint.

The PS2 controls
are as follows (the layout may change and no one has mentioned yet what
the other buttons do. L3 and R3 are used by pushing in either analog
stick):

Button

Action
- On Foot/In Vehicle

Square

Jump
/ Brake

Circle

Hit
/ Fire / Activate Car Bomb

Triangle

Enter
/ Exit Vehicle

X

Accelerate
/ Sprint

R1

Target
Lock / Hand Brake

R2

Change
Weapons / Driveby View

R3

Look
Behind / Toggle Vehicle Mission

L1

Change
Radio Station

L2

Change
Weapons / Driveby View

L3

Horn
/ Sirens

Left
Stick

Movement

Right
Stick

First
Person View

D-Pad

Movement

Start

Pause
Game / Access Options Menu

Select

Change
Camera Angle

Weapons, Power-Ups & Combat
GTA3 will feature a wide variety of weapons including baseball bats, pistols,
shotguns, sniper rifles, Uzis, assault rifles, rocket launchers, flame
throwers, grenades, Molotov Cocktails, and more. The rocket launcher
and sniper rifle will automatically take you into first-person mode, and
the sniper rifle also has the ability to zoom when you use the scope. This
also leads to the possibility that other weapons may have special secondary
fire modes or views.

The baseball
bat opens a whole new aspect to GTA where the player can actually use
melee combat. Along with the bat you can also punch, kick, head
butt, and knee your opponents into submission. Hand to hand combat
may also feature some more advanced combos. Two other weapons
returning from GTA2, the grenade and the Molotov Cocktail, will require
a bit of discretion. If you throw them at someone nearby you run
the risk of getting caught up in the explosion. I'd imagine the
rocket launcher carries the same warning. If you cause enough explosions
in a row (use five grenades or more in the same spot) you run the risk
of attracting the fire department and adding to your notoriety.

The design
team at DMA have played numerous third-person titles in order to develop
the best possible targeting system. The targeting system in GTA3
gives you the choice to freely attack your enemies or you can "lock
on" to the most powerful enemy. When you hit the target lock
button, GTA3 will automatically aim at the most powerful enemy around
you, then it will continue to aim for you until your current target is
dead. The target lock will then automatically switch to the next
powerful opponent, and so on. You can also scroll through your opponents
from strongest to weakest by using the next target button. If you
choose to, you can bypass the entire system and aim for yourself.

When you
aren't taking out the trash with your AK47s, you generally keep your weapons
hidden on you, so as not to arouse suspicion. When you do choose
to draw your gun, you can expect other armed members of society to follow
suit in order to protect themselves. The citizens in the bad parts
of town are typically more likely to be armed than a business man on his
way to work, but don't expect every ped to take your abuse lying down.

According
to German gaming mag PSM2, GTA3 will also contain power-ups and multipliers.
No details have been given on the power-ups, other than the fact
that they will be in crates around the city, like they were in GTA &
GTA2.

Sound
GTA3 carries on the tradition of the series and will feature a wide assortment
of music, with 50 plus songs appearing in the final release. Like
the original, each musical genre will have its own radio station and DJ.
The radio station will change whenever you jack a car to reflect
what the previous occupant was listening to. The radio stations
will also feature breakers, commercials, and news reports to detail your
latest criminal activities. The news reports may also give you clues
as to the police presence in the area. Most of the music for GTA3
is being composed in-house at DMA, with the rest of the music coming from
"well-known pop musicians." In my opinion this could be
good or bad depending on who they pick. Personally I find that most
"well-known pop musicians" are also well-known for producing
total sh*t.

The sound
effects will also be much like they were in GTA and GTA2, with peds yelling
at you and screaming when you decide to go ballistic, but they have also
given the peds the ability to talk to one another. This of course
opens up the possibility that you might overhear a conversation in passing,
giving you useful information and maybe even missions.

GTA3 is packed
full of ambient sound effects to make the experience more realistic. Different
types of buildings and peds all have their own set of effects. One
example of this, is that if you are near a hospital you'll hear voices
from inside talking about hospital related topics. I would imagine
that this will carry on to different building types (restaurants, bars,
night clubs, etc. - all with their own set of sound effects and conversations).
Each ped also has their own set of lines, from mumbling old women
to "businessmen complaining about about needing a vacation."
All this sound is layered on top of the sounds of a noisy city with
the appropriate echo filters when you're in certain environments.

It hasn't
been mentioned yet if GTA3 will feature 3D positional audio, but I'd be
willing to bet that the PC version will ship with support for EAX and
DirectSound 3d. DMA is doing something special with the PS2 release
in the way of sound. The PlayStation2 has both PS2 and PS1 hardware
under the cover. DMA is going to utilize the PS1 sound hardware
to stream the music, freeing up the PS2 sound chip to handle more complex
environmental audio effects. I expect the sound will be top notch
as it has been in every past GTA title.

Features
This is basically a short list of features that are explained at length
in the "What is GTA3?" section (above).

One massive
city to explore with three distinct sections, Portland (mostly industrial),
Staunton Island (mostly commercial), and Shoreside Vale (suburban).
All the sections are connected to each other by trains, tunnels, bridges,
and even ferries.

Advanced
ped AI which allows them interact with each other and the player. The
AI also allows them to go about their business even when the player
isn't on screen.

There
will be "well over" 50 mandatory missions and over 50 "odd
job" type side missions. Rewards in the form of special items
and modes will be issued based on the amount of side missions you complete.
Cutscenes will be used to break up the missions and advance the
plot.

GTA3 will
feature "continuously streaming environments" allowing the
DMA team to use an "unlimited number of building models".
This should reduce the amount of repetition in the environment
and keep the PS2 version running at a rock solid 30 FPS.

There
are 50 vehicles in the game with 4 to 5 variations on each vehicle,
all based on the physics of their real-life counterparts. Each
vehicle features 18 damage points that can get dented or fall off. If
your car takes too much damage it can blow up. You also run
the risk of flipping your car.

Working
public transportation including trains, ferries, taxis, and possibly
busses.

A full
arsenal of weaponry including baseball bats, pistols, sniper rifles,
shotguns, Uzis, AK47s, M16s, rocket launchers, flame throwers, grenades,
Molotov Cocktails, and more. Melee combat is also supported with
the ability to punch, kick, head butt, and knee people (yes you can
knee a guy in the balls if you want).

Special
alternate fire modes for some weapons. The sniper rifle features
a zoom mode when you use the scope.

Targeting
system allowing you to lock your target on the toughest opponent and
then scroll through the various other enemies around you. A free
targeting system is also available if you don't want to lock on.

Interactive
radio with different cars tuned to different stations (just like GTA)
featuring 50 plus songs.

The radio
stations will feature breakers, commercials, and news reports that detail
your latest criminal activities and may give you clues as to the police
presence in the area

Vehicles
Here is a list of vehicles that I've composed from various screen shots
and previews. There are a number of vehicles in the shots that I
can't readily identify, other than using a general term like coupe, sedan,
etc. If you have a better guess, please send
it in and I'll add it to the list (please send a link to the screen
shot or article along with your guess).

It has been
confirmed that the helicopter and planes cannot be flown by the player,
they are strictly used by the AI. The only flying vehicle available
to the player is a damaged Cessna (missing most of its wingspan). This
plane is made available during a mission and it only flies for short amount
of time (it's really only capable of jumping off the ground in short spurts).
It's still unknown if the player will be able to hijack the train
or the ferry.

One last
note, there won't be any motorcycles in GTA3 because of the amount of
time it takes to make the physics look believable (despite what some previews
may claim, I have verified all of this with Rockstar Games). Vehicles
with an * indicate that they cannot be piloted by the player and are only
available to the AI.

*Airplane1*
- (Cessna flown by the AI, it may land/takeoff from the airport)

"In
fact, Grand Theft Auto 3 will arguably boast an even greater variety
of routes to the top of the crime tree, with one crucial advantage:
the whole world is in three dimensions. It's like Driver meets Crazy
Taxi meets Urban Chaos meets Kingpin, in downtown Manhattan, smoking
a big fat Cuban cigar."

"The
idea being that anyone familiar with the first two games will instantly
be able to pick up and play Grand Theft Auto 3. A single button press
allows you to haul the driver of a nearby car out of his seat, thus
taking his place behind the wheel. Any vehicle you see you can drive.
Any location you can see you can drive to. "The aim is to set you loose
in the world," says Houser."

[Day/Night
cycles]
"This device allows for some superb graphical effects as the end
of each day is marked by and impressive sunset and a misty twilight
- as long as the realistic weather generator concurs. The onset of darkness
is generally the cue for the lowlife to crawl slowly out of their dens
and Grand Theft Auto 3 is no different." "

""The
40 vehicles in the game all handle differently," claims Benzies. "Obviously
the fast sports cars are rare, especially in the first industrial area.
With a truck you can ram-raid or force other cars out of the way. Conversely,
there will be areas of the map you can only access with a small car."
"

"Don't
bet against Rob Playford's Resonant Matrix crew getting involved again.
In each area of the game, there'll be ample opportunity to find yourself
a warehouse base where you can dump the vehicles you've stolen - the
aim will be to eventually collect every car in the game, just like Nic
Cage and cronies in Gone In 60 Seconds."

"The
transition from 2D to 3D has necessitated a lesson in true driving physics
for the team. The need for broadly realistic but enjoyable vehicle handling
his crucial to the game's appeal, but Benzies appreciates the importance
of this aspect and believes they've already got it sussed. "We've spent
a lot of time working on real car physics and accurate handling, but
then we've tweaked the models to make sure the vehicles are fun to drive.
It's difficult to up-end your car, but when you do it's probably time
to steal a new one. There are 18 damage panels, sections will fall off,
and eventually the vehicles will explode." If you're still dopily perched
behind the wheel at this point, you'll find yourself waking up in the
hospital with all you money and weapons confiscated."

"From
the ability to ride trains, steal speedboats and board the ferry between
islands to the enemy-specific insult button, Grand Theft Auto 3 will
give you plenty to discover. And everyone has their favourite part,
"I like the bit when your guy crawls out of the window of the car after
you've rolled it," enthuses Houser. "These hundreds of little incidents
weave together into a seamless whole."

All the information in this section has been added to the sections above.
This is mainly here so you won't have to reread the entire thing
to see what has been added:

Added
August 29th, 2001 - From PS2.IGN.com's Hands On Impressions:

GTA3 is
packed full of ambient sound effects to make the experience more realistic.
Different types of buildings and peds all have their own set of
effects. One example of this, is that if you are near a hospital
you'll hear voices from inside talking about hospital related topics.
I would imagine that this will carry on to different building
types (restaurants, bars, night clubs, etc. - all with their own set
of sound effects and conversations). Each ped also has their own
set of lines, from mumbling old women to "businessmen complaining
about about needing a vacation." All this sound is layered
on top of the sounds of a noisy city with the appropriate echo filters
when you're in certain environments.

Earlier
previews mentioned that the player can sprint, but after awhile he'll
have to stop and take a rest. This has now been altered slightly.
If you run a lot, the character will get in better shape and later
in the game he won't have to rest as often because his endurance has
gone up.

Pesky
police helicopters can be brought down with heavier weaponry, like the
rocket launcher.

When you
die you end up in the hospital, just like previous games in the GTA
series.

PS2 Controls:

Button

Action
- On Foot/In Vehicle

Square

Jump
/ Brake

Circle

Hit
/ Fire / Activate Car Bomb

Triangle

Enter
/ Exit Vehicle

X

Accelerate
/ Sprint

R1

Target
Lock / Hand Brake

R2

Change
Weapons / Driveby View

R3

Look
Behind / Toggle Vehicle Mission

L1

Change
Radio Station

L2

Change
Weapons / Driveby View

L3

Horn
/ Sirens

Left
Stick

Movement

Right
Stick

First
Person View

D-Pad

Movement

Start

Pause
Game / Access Options Menu

Select

Change
Camera Angle

Added May 7th, 2001 - From GTA-3.com & PSM2:

Crates
with power-ups and multipliers will be making a comeback. Just
ram the crate of your choosing and enjoy.

More specific
names have been given to some of the weapons:

Colt
45 Pistol

Uzi
9mm SMG

AK47s
Assault Rifle

Remington
Pump-Action Shotgun

66mm
Rocket Launcher (M72 LAW)

Newspapers
and other trash in the streets will blow around in the wind.

Pigeons
will be sitting on curbs throughout the city.

Ambulance
crews will revive the injured people just like in GTA.

There
won't be any motorcycles in GTA3 because of the amount of time it takes
to make the physics look believable (this is from GTA-3.com's news and
from comments from another source). The guys at GTA-3.com are
hoping that they will add motorcycles to the PC version of the game.

Added May 7th, 2001 - From PS2.IGN.com's preview:

This quote
should help allay our fears of GTA3 being too linear. "As
with GTA and GTA2 before it, players can take on any mission at almost
any time, an element to the game that provides freedom and provokes
exploration."

Taking
damage to different parts of the car causes different problems. If
the front end is rammed hard enough the engine will begin to smoke.

"Grand
Theft Auto 3 enables players to freely attack enemies, or to lock onto
their opponent. By simply pressing R1, a visible target mechanism appears
on screen and follows the opponent until he or she is shot dead, and
by pressing another button the lock-on will automatically target the
next opponent. The target is intelligently built, too, as it aims for
the most powerful enemy first and then tracks the next powerful one,
and so on."

Sounds
will change to reflect the environment, so there will be more reverberation
in alleyways, tunnels, and other confined areas.

Added May 3rd, 2001 - From GameSpot UK's preview:

New gangs
in GTA3 include the Yardies (a Jamaican gang) and the Colombians. This
adds to the previous list including the Mafia and the Yakuza.

The number
of cars has been raised from 40 to 50 cars.

The tank
has finally been announced as a vehicle.

You can
steal the ambulance and then answer any emergence calls that come in.

School
children were announced as one of the ped types.

The names
of the different sections of the city (e.g. Chinatown & the red
light district) will pop up as you drive through them, just like in
GTA and GTA2.

AK47s
officially announced as a weapon. Previously referred to as a
machine gun or an assault rifle.

This is
a rather odd addition... "Running over pedestrians, by some way
of retribution, causes you to drop money (although you can go and pick
it up later)." I'm not sure what I think about this, seems
like having half the police force after you is enough without loosing
money for it too...

Maximum
wanted level has gone from five to six.

You aren't
running around with your gun out all the time. If you draw your
gun, you can expect other armed members of society to follow suit in
order to protect themselves. You can expect more people to be
armed in the bad sections of town.

The FBI
peds come in two varieties, plain clothes and black suit.

The Army
will send jeeps, tanks, and helicopters after you if you cause enough
trouble. Now I'm wondering if they really mean jeep or if they
actually mean Hummer (HMMWV / HumVee).

The helicopter
will use it's spotlight on you at night, making for some spectacular
visuals.

At some
point in the game you will have to make a tough choice. I'd be
willing to guess that this choice will affect the outcome of the game.
Does this mean there will be two or more possible endings to the
game?

The release
date seems to fluctuate from September to October depending on what
preview you read.

It turns
out that your ex-girlfriend's name is not Miguel :). Your ex-girlfriend's
name is Catalina and your ex-partner in crime is Miguel. I'm guessing
that Catalina rats you out to the Police while she runs off with Miguel
and the money, leaving you to take the fall. The preview in Game
Informer was incorrect. Here is the new setup, reported by PSE:

"It
seems you were left to take the fall while your skanky girlfriend,
Catalina, and your so-called partner-in-crime, Miguel, have run
off with the loot. Thankfully, the Man just can't keep you
down. As it turns out, on the way to the jail house, your
paddy wagon is ambushed by the Yakuza (Japanese mobsters who have
a penchant for chopping off digits). Seem they are interested
in an old Japanese man sharing your ride up the river. Along
with another escapee (who happens to be an explosives expert) by
the name of 8-Ball, you carjack the nearest vehicle and make your
way to freedom - well, actually a hideout in Liberty City's seedy
Red Light District run by a Mafioso named Luigi. Here is where
your road to vengeance begins."

As you
may recall from previous previews, 8-Ball is your new partner in crime.
He accompanies you on your first mission and then helps you remotely
with later missions. Almost all of the other magazines below incorrectly
report that 8-Ball is the Asian guy in the paddy wagon with you. This
is incorrect, there are two guys in there with you, the Asian Yakuza
guy and 8-Ball.

Some of
the peds you see on the street include car jackers, gang members, hookers,
bums, business men, joggers, and old women with walkers :)

Along
with the new plot setup, they also mention a new time-specific mission
where you have to rob an armored van that makes it's rounds early in
the morning. If you miss the job, you'll have to try again the
next day. Judging from previous previews, it sounds as if you can miss
some missions and retry them the next day, while others are one-shot
deals that you will fail if you don't show up at the correct time.

Rush hour
traffic during the day will slow you down in certain parts of the city.

The PSE
preview also confirms that GTA3 will be more linear and more story driven
than the past two GTAs. You still have the same freedom of movement,
but now you are actually doing all this stuff for an overall reason,
driving the plot forward with each new job.

It sounds
like the water cannon from GTA2 is returning to GTA3. PSE states
that you can put out fires with the fire engine.

Different
sections of town will have a different variety of vehicles. I.E.
You'll see more sports cars in the commercial and suburban districts.
That sort of thing. Peds will also vary in the same way.
No business men and joggers in the industrial part of town.

GTA2's
respect-o-meter is definitely gone

You can
perform some pretty amazing stunts with cars, like hand-brake turns
and jumps.

Added March 19th,
2001 - From Game Informer Article:

GTA3 was
originally planned for the Dreamcast but the DC hardware couldn't handle
it so it was moved to the PS2.

The XBox
and PC versions should be released concurrently.

GTA3 will
feature "continuously streaming environments" allowing the
DMA team to use an "unlimited number of building models".
This should reduce the amount of repetition in the environment.

The radio
stations will feature news reports to detail your latest criminal activities
and may give you clues as to the police presence in the area.

There
will be "well over" 50 mandatory missions and over 30 "odd
job" type side missions. Rewards in the form of special items
and modes will be issued based on the amount of side missions you complete.

60% of
the missions will be car based and 40% will be on foot.

There
will be lots of cutscenes with full voice acting to break up the action
and flesh out the plot.

There
will be over 60 characters who you will interact with along the way.

The missions
provided by Darkel will replace the Kill Frenzies in GTA and GTA2.

Each section
of the city will have one safehouse where you can hide out, save your
game, and store a vehicle. These safehouses will start out as
complete dumps and gradually improve in appearance as you complete more
missions and earn more money.

One mission
will feature a single engine Cessna plane missing most of its wingspan.
You will use this plane to get enough loft to access new areas
(this explains the recent announcements of airplanes in GTA3).

Hand to
hand combat may feature some more advanced combos.

The radar
in GTA3 will not show street layout, only two floating points. This
was done to keep the player from staring at the radar instead of looking
at the road.

Added March 9th, 2001 - From GTA3D.de Update:

You can
shoot from your car window using the Uzi. Drivebys are back :)

GTA3 will
feature over 100 missions

You will
be able to use the water cannon on the fire engine

Vehicle
reflections have not been added yet but they will be featured in the
final version of GTA3. More vehicle effects will be added as development
progresses.

Wet roads
will affect vehicle handling

Each part
of Liberty City will be controlled by a different criminal group. The
Mafia for example will control the industrial district.

GTA3 will
also feature airplanes, boats, and tanks, along with the usual array
of vehicles.

Added January 2nd,
2001 - From PS2 UK Article:

GTA3 release
date: October, 2001 on PS2 (This article was in a PS2 magazine so no
comment was made about the PC version). I assume it will be out
for PS2 and PC at roughly the same time, but definitely on both platforms.

The plot
sounds roughly similar to GTA, in fact the whole game sounds a little
more like GTA than GTA2. Various crime bosses and characters from
GTA, GTA: London, and GTA2 will all be in GTA3.

GTA3 is
set completely in Liberty City, but sectioned off into three parts,
Brooklyn/Queens (mostly industrial), Manhattan (mostly commercial),
and New Jersey (suburban). You can travel from one section to
another via trains, tunnels, bridges, and even ferries. Each of
these subsections is broken down into smaller sections with posh areas,
run down areas, docks, etc.

The peds
will have a distinctive AI which will allow them to continue about their
business even when they aren't on screen. Currently its estimated
that up to 20 peds could be displayed on screen at any given time.
The main peds you interact with will be easily identifiable and should
be easy to spot in a crowd.

GTA3 also
plays like GTA and anyone who has played GTA before should be able to
pick it up and play it immediately. Hit one key to jack a car
and the same key to get back out and that sort of thing.

If you
hadn't figured it out already, GTA3 uses a true 3D engine and it's not
shackled to a top-down view. The version they tested allowed the
player to change camera angles (including top-down), but for the most
part it sounds like its primarily played from a third person view.
The article also mentioned that the DMA design team played numerous
third person games and they are working on the best possible solution
to the camera problems that plague some third person games.

GTA3 will
have full day/night time cycles with 30 minutes of real-time equaling
24 hours of game-time. As it begins to get darker you'll see more
of Liberty City's criminal element coming out of their homes to cause
trouble. Rather than have a counter, you'll have a real-time clock.
One scenario might require the player to be at a specific place
by 11 PM for a bank robbery. If you miss your deadline you can
always just try again the next day at the same time. While this
isn't entirely realistic, its a lot more forgiving than having to reload
constantly or having to restart a mission.

Along
with the day/night cycles, GTA3 will also feature a weather generator.

There
are 40 vehicles in the game, all based on real life vehicles.
Some situations will call for a truck, some for a sports car, and some
will require you to use a small vehicle to get to a specific point on
the map. Sports cars, trucks, and compacts were the only type
of cars mentioned in the article. The design team at DMA is trying
to balance the vehicle physics so all the cars are modeled accurately,
but still fun to drive. Each car features 18 damage points that
can fall off. If your car gets damaged too much you'll run the
risk of blowing it up ala GTA. You also run the risk of flipping
your car, but it sounds rather difficult to do.

When you
are on foot you can walk, run, or sprint, however you can only sprint
for a short while before you have to stop and rest a moment. Hopefully
this will add to the realism but won't hinder the fun.

GTA3 will
feature a wide variety of weapons including pistols, shotguns, sniper
rifles, and more. The sniper rifle features a zoom mode.
I assume this will either take you out of a third person view or will
open a sort of picture in picture view with the zoom mode occupying
a part of your screen (this is just speculation on my part). This
also leads to the possibility that other weapons may have special secondary
fire modes. The design team at DMA have played numerous other
third person titles to try and work out the best possible way to develop
the targeting system. Currently "you can lock your target on the
most dangerous enemy and then scroll through the various foes surrounding
you, or just shoot straight ahead at everything in your path."